Tax credit proposed for installing call buttons on gas pumps

The Iowa Senate has approved legislation designed to help more disabled motorists summon a gas station employee to pump their gas. Senator Rita Hart, a Democrat from Wheatland, has been touting the idea for the past few years.

“The world has changed,” Hart said Tuesday. “It’s no longer full-serve. It’s now self-serve and disabiled individuals who find it difficult or impossible to use the controls at the pumps were left out.”

The bill would not force all Iowa gas station owners to equip their pumps with new call buttons. Instead, gas stations would get a new a 500-dollar state tax credit for every “refueling assistance device” installed. The proposal cleared the Senate on a 30-20 vote on Tuesday afternoon, but has not yet been considered in a House committee.